


Strong

by twdsunshine



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-20 10:05:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16135010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twdsunshine/pseuds/twdsunshine
Summary: There’s a war coming.  Negan knows it and he’s ready, but his favourite wife doesn’t have a clue how to protect herself.  If he’s going to be able to fight for his people, he needs to know that she can keep herself safe, so he decides to show her just how strong she can be.





	Strong

**Author's Note:**

> So, one of my followers on Tumblr has been going through a pretty rough time just recently. After a chat with an anonymous friend earlier today, I sat down and wrote this for her. So, this one is dedicated to @negans-wife, one of those beautiful people in life that is always spreading kindess and smiles. Sending you all the love, Bine ❤️

Y/N was red-faced and sweating as she stared down the approaching walkers, her fists clenching and unclenching at her sides as she waited for the first corpse to reach her.  Her body was tense as she stood, poised on the balls of her feet, ready to defend herself against the oncoming attack.  From where Negan watched several yards away, he could see the fear in her wide eyes, hear the ragged gasps of her breaths as she fought her fear, but he didn’t move to help her.  She needed to do this on her own.  That was the whole damn point of coming out here, after all.

His newest wife had looked at him as though he were crazy when he’d woken her at dawn, dragging her from the bed she shared with Amber and ordering her to get dressed.  'Not your usual get-up though, doll.  Gonna need something more practical today.  No heels.’

Her brows had knitted together in a frown of confusion as her lips formed a perfect pout, her voice wavering as she tried to work out what was going on.  'Why?  Where are we going?’

‘Outside, into the woods.  You, my beautiful wife…’ He paused to slip a finger beneath her chin, angling her face up to his so he could brush his mouth over hers.  ‘…need to learn how to protect yourself.’

He’d noticed how timid she was when his Saviors first brought her in, quiet and shy, letting the others in her group do the talking for her.  A small part of him wondered how she’d made it this long but then she’d turned to walk away and he’d found himself mesmerised by the swing of her hips as she moved.  It forced all questions about her survival from his head and instead he’d set about figuring her out, studying her from afar, gathering the information that he needed to coerce her into becoming his.  Not that he’d needed to.  She’d agreed readily when he finally popped the question, gazing up at him with something that actually resembled affection, and that had been that.  She’d become his number one effortlessly, just for the simple damn fact that she actually gave a shit about him.  So, now he was returning the favour.

'I don’t wanna do this,’ she bit out from between gritted teeth as the biters stumbled towards her.  'I can’t fight, Negan, I’ve tried and it doesn’t work.’

'That’s why you’ve gotta learn,’ he reminded her from a safe distance, far enough away that she’d be forced to stand up for herself but near enough that he could step in if needed.  'Come on, you can do this.’

As the first walker reached her, its fingers clawed at her shoulders and she shoved it away, stepping to the side so that it fell past her and crashed to the ground.  

'That’s it,’ Negan called, 'Just like I showed you.  Now, let him have it, doll.  Use the heel of your boot, remember!’

Evidently, she did as she whirled towards the fallen corpse and drove her boot into its skull with a sickening squelch.  When it continued to writhe amongst the fallen leaves, she looked to her husband for help and he smiled.  'You got this.  One more time now.’

This time her heel slid into the sticky goop of its brain and it finally stilled.  Negan heard her sigh of relief, but it wasn’t over yet.  There had been more than one figure moving towards her through the woods and the next one was upon her before she had time to catch her breath, its fingers lacing into her hair and wrenching her head backwards.  'Negan!’

'C’mon, princess!  Just like we practiced…’

His breath caught in his throat as rotting jaws clamped down inches from her face, but then she was pulling herself together, ducking out of its clutches so that she had the monster in her sights and landing a solid kick to its sternum.  It flew backwards, impaling itself on a low branch that protruded from a nearby tree, where it remained, stuck, its snarls growing agitated.

The next three were on her all at once and Negan couldn’t stand by and watch anymore, entering into the fray with Lucille, letting the bat arc up into the air before swinging her down to make easy work of crushing the skull of a skeletal woman with a large gash across her cheek.  She fell and he moved on to the next, taking more time with this one, taunting it as he stepped backwards out of reach time and again, before letting Lucille bludgeon its skull into the thick gnarled trunk of a tree to his left.  The walker’s body slid to the ground, leaving a trail of gore over the mossy green bark, and Negan spun to check how Y/N was doing, just in time to see her lift a large rock above her head and embed it in the brain of the last remaining corpse.  

Offering his hand, Negan waited for his wife’s fingers to slip into his before tugging her back to her feet and pulling her into his arms, careful to keep the blood-soaked barbs of his weapon away from her.  Her body was trembling against him and he laced his fingers into her hair as he waited for her to calm herself, knowing that adrenaline would still be pulsing through her veins.  'You fucking did it, doll!  I knew you could!  Shit, do you have any idea how fucking proud I am of you?  My wife is a badass!’

When she finally spoke, lifting her face to meet his eyes, her own dark with exhaustion, she asked, 'Are we done?  Will you take me home now?’

The question broke Negan’s heart because, contrary to popular belief, he did have one, and he knew there was one more lesson to learn.  He knew she’d most likely hate him for what he was about to do, but he also knew that it might keep her alive one day, so he let Lucille fall to the ground, pushed Y/N’s body away from him and took a wild swing at her with his clenched fist.  He wasn’t trying to hurt her, this was just a part of the lesson, and relief coursed through him when she dodged the blow.

'What the hell are you doing?’

He didn’t respond, letting his mouth curl into a cruel smile as he advanced on her, forcing her backwards until she collided with a tree, the air leaving her lungs in a soft gasp.  His hand didn’t feel like it belonged to him as he reached out and wrapped his fingers around her throat, squeezing a little tighter than he was comfortable with and watching panic flash across her face.

‘Thing with walkers, doll, is that they don’t fucking fight back.  You wanna take care of yourself, you need to know how to take down a living, breathing human set on choking the life outta you.’

'Negan…’  Her words were barely audible as her nails scraped over his knuckles, trying to break his grip.

'C’mon, princess, you can do better than that.  Hurt me, you know you want to!’

'I can’t-’

'Yes, you fucking can!  You’re a damn badass!  You can do any damn thing you set your mind to!  Do you have any fucking clue how strong you are?  Show me, right now.  Fight back, Y/N!’

His hold on her tightened and she flailed helplessly, terror clouding her ability to think straight, but then a steely determination settled over her and Negan’s smile grew wilder.

'That’s it.  I can feel it.  How are you gonna stop me?  Do what you gotta do, sweetheart!  Shit, I’m choking you to death right now.  You gotta fight!’

He flexed his fingers, letting them cut off her airway entirely, and her reaction was instinctive as she brought her knee up from the ground, driving it into his groin hard enough to take his breath away.  He went down with a loud thud, groaning in pain as he curled his body up, unable to do anything except hold still and wait for the ache to subside.  

Y/N was standing over him, panting hard, prodding tentatively at the tender skin of her throat as she glared at him in disbelief.  'You’re an asshole.’

'Yes, I am,’ he croaked from beneath her.  'But if that’s what it takes to keep you fucking safe, sweetheart, then I’m okay with that.’

'You could’ve killed me!’

'No,’ he argued, determined to shut that shit down straight away.  'No, I couldn’t, because you’re fucking strong as shit, Y/N.  I just needed to get you to see that!  I needed to teach you how to use it so you know you can protect yourself.’

'I don’t need to know that!  I have you!’

'But I can’t always be there to protect you!’  Swallowing hard, Negan forced himself back to his feet, though the pain was far from gone.  'There’s a rebellion brewing, doll, and it’s gonna pull me and my men in a million different directions, you can pretty much count on that.  I can’t fucking guarantee that I’ll be at your side if or when an attack comes and I need to know that you can defend yourself.’

'Why?’

'What?’  Her anger had morphed to confusion and Negan was thrown by her question.

'Why?  Why me?  I’m pretty sure the rest of the girls are equally as pathetic, so why am I out here with you being choked against a tree while they’re still holed up painting their nails and reading magazines?  I don’t understand.’

Negan cleared his throat, unaccustomed to being put on the spot by one of his ladies.  'You know you’re my fucking favourite.  Shit, I haven’t exactly made a secret of it.’

'But why?’

She was still staring at him with those big eyes that made him melt, bruises blossoming on her neck from the pressure of his fingertips.  She looked so small and vulnerable, yet the throb in Negan’s pants confirmed what he’d known all along.  She was a hell of a lot stronger than she gave herself credit for and she could fight like a wild animal if she needed to.  He’d already thought she was one hell of a woman and watching her take down those walkers, seeing her confidence grow, had only reinforced that view.  Still, he wasn’t one for soppy shit, so he didn’t say any of that out loud.  Instead, he limped towards her, stooping to retrieve Lucille, before snaking an arm around her waist and pulling her flush against him as he smirked at her.  'Why don’t we head back inside and see if you can’t remind me of that, doll?’

She sighed, shaking her head, but let him take her hand and lead her back through the forest, towards the Sanctuary gates.  He paused before they broke through the treeline, pressing a devastating kiss to her lips and trying to ignore the emotions that were churning within him.  Negan didn’t let people in, not anymore.  Anybody he got close to either up and left him or got themselves killed, and he couldn’t stand to lose anybody else.  That was why it had been so damn important to teach the girl in his arms how to fight, how to keep herself alive in this apocalyptic world they now lived in.  Because he hadn’t had a choice about whether to let her in or not.  She’d crept into his heart when he wasn’t even looking, put down roots there and now, as his mouth moved on hers, he could feel her pervading every part of him.  He was drowning in her and hell, he didn’t even mind.  They’d get through this war together and, hey, maybe one day he’d shed the baggage and make her his only wife.  His real wife.  She was just what he needed.  She was strong.  He’d sensed that all along and now they both believed it.


End file.
